


Everything will be alright

by superkitten



Category: The Bold Type
Genre: F/F, One Shot, Post-Episode AU: s2e09
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-01
Updated: 2018-08-01
Packaged: 2019-06-20 04:51:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15526434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/superkitten/pseuds/superkitten
Summary: Jane doesn’t go on the road trip with her friends, and doesn’t regret her decision.





	Everything will be alright

**Author's Note:**

> Here’s another Post-Ep AU. That road trip with the girls was tons of fun, but I’m Jacqueline Carlyle trash and seeing her all alone in her office after everything that went down with the comments backlash just didn’t work for me.

Jane was sitting in Scarlet's small kitchen, laptop open, a single line of text (the article's title) filling her Word document, the cursor blinking lazily behind it. Instead of focusing on her screen she kept staring at the closed binder to her right. When Sutton had told her they were going on a road trip, as much as she'd wanted to spend time with her friends and have fun, she had been forced to say no, as the words 'BAD IDEA' flashed in bright neon lights in her head at the thought of being in a car for several hours in her current state. Her stomach turned just thinking about it. 

 

She hadn't been in a hurry to go home at the end of her work day, and she definitely wasn't looking forward to talking to her walking medical encyclopedia of a boyfriend, so here she was, at her home away from home. It was pretty late, she figured everyone had left already. Stretching her arms above her head, finally admitting defeat, she decided to finally leave and get a fresh start in the morning. Closing her laptop with a sigh, she picked up her things and went back to her desk to get her bag. As she approached it she saw a light on in Jacqueline's office, and, as she got closer, surely enough, there she was, pacing while talking on her cell.

 

Setting down her things and making her way across the room before she knew what she was doing, Jane watched as her boss ended her call and turned to see her standing there at her door.

 

"Jane," she said surprised. "What are you still doing here, it's late."

 

"I... stayed to work on my piece," she said.

 

"Ah," Jacqueline said, before putting her hands on the small of her back and taking a deep breath.

 

"Long day?"

 

"You could say that. In fact...", Jacqueline said, moving to where she kept her bottle of scotch, picking it up as well as two glasses. "I was about to have a drink. Care to join me?"

 

Jane was still a little tipsy from her booze session with Pinstripe earlier that day and knew she should decline the invitation. That flashing neon sign was blinking again. But this time she didn't say no.

 

"Sure," she said, accepting a glass from Jacqueline as they both took a seat on the couch.

 

"How is your piece going?"

 

"Not that well, if I'm being honest. But I'll have it done by tomorrow", she was quick to add, before drinking from her glass.

 

"Hmmm," Jacqueline limited herself to say, also sipping her drink, lost in thought.

 

Sensing her boss was dealing with something, but not knowing how to approach the situation, Jane let out a small laugh.

 

"What's funny?"

 

"Nothing," Jane said, shaking her head. "I was just... thinking about how usually our situations are reversed, and it's you who gets me to talk about what's bothering me, not the other way around,"

 

Jacqueline just widened her eyes slightly and smiled at that.

 

"And I was also thinking about how it doesn't take much at all for _you_ to get me to talk, you just give me this look and I do, but somehow I don't think that'd work on you,"

 

"Well, you'll never know unless you try," she said, looking at Jane with a challenging smirk on her face.

 

Doing her best to give Jacqueline a serious and pointed stare, she made her boss burst into laughter.

 

"See, I knew it wasn't gonna work," said Jane, slightly embarrassed, looking down at her glass.

 

"I'm sorry," said Jacqueline, putting a hand on Jane's knee and making her smile shyly. Taking a breath and looking down at her own glass, she added, "It's just that some days are more difficult than others. And mistakes come back to haunt you in record time. Sometimes I feel like I'm swimming upstream,"

 

"I honestly can't imagine how complicated your job is. Talk about shark infested waters,"

 

"Especially when said sharks smell blood in the water,"

 

"By ‘blood’ you mean that article?"

 

Jacqueline pursed her lips at that, showing no other reaction other than the slight turn of her head. Jane knew her boss wasn't the type of person to open up about her problems, and she would never start blabbering or complaining about the political maneuverings that her position as editor-in-chief of a major publication entailed (or anything Scarlet-related, for that matter), so Jane just looked at her in sympathy.

 

"I wish there was something I could say or do to help," she said. Seeing Jacqueline worried, a frown on her face, bothered Jane. A lot. Her first instinct was to beat up whoever was responsible. Not that she ever would - or could, for that matter. She had the feeling it had to do with that Cleo woman, who'd gotten Kat into trouble before, but she would never dare to ask.

 

Smiling at Jane and getting up to refill her glass, before reaching for Jane's and doing the same, Jacqueline said, trying to sound optimistic, "Paris is just around the corner, which is exciting, but also a little overwhelming. Everything should sort itself out afterwards."

 

Nodding, Jane smiled. They stayed drinking in companiable silence. Jane's thoughts, which had been all over the place withBen and Ryan and her health situation, finally gave her a break and she felt like she could breathe easily for the first time in a while. At one point Jacqueline removed her shoes and put her feet up on the couch, her head propped up on one of her hands, arm resting against the backrest, facing Jane, while Jane laid back against the cushions, staring at the ceiling and talking about random things, like Paris Fashion Week, her friends' road trip tonight and all sorts of random stuff. Catching herself and suddenly worried she was boring Jacqueline to tears she turned her head sideways to look at her, and could see the expression on her face had softened somehow, the frown gone. Maybe she was feeling a little easier, too.

 

"I just wish everything was this easy."

 

 _This wasn't complicated. This was easy. Everything should be this easy._ Jane was drunk and she knew she never offered any context to what she'd just said that'd make her thoughts or feelings clear. But then again, looking at the warm smile on Jacqueline's face she thought the woman actually understood what she was trying to say. Which, somehow, didn't surprise her.

 

"Yeah," Jacqueline said. "Easy," she said with a sigh, her eyelids slightly heavy, a small smile on her face. Jane's mind, which had been blissfully empty, became agitated again, once she started thinking about how all of a sudden she wanted things. Things she had no business wanting in the first place. Things like making nights like this one a regular occurance. Like hearing Jacqueline laugh like she did earlier, even if it was at her expense. Like making the frown on her face disappear, if only for a little while.

 

_Ok, maybe not so easy afterall._


End file.
